THE CONVERSATION

Kandace: Hi Ray!

Ray: Hi Kandace! Today we’re talking about Parlor Coffee of Brooklyn, New York. Parlor is…they’ve only been around for a few years but, this is interesting brand that I totally love. They have a roaster, that is open to the public once a week that you can come in and taste every Sunday at three! If you’re in Brooklyn…

Kandace: Hopefully you’re not tasting the roaster.

Ray: And, they are, they have a pop-up shop and a barber shop nearby. So you can get your haircut while you enjoy their coffee.

More than anything, I gotta say, I’m head over heels in love with this packaging. I LOVE this bag. This is actually a newer bag design. I believe I saw that they had another one that was a little more traditional. But this design is just, it really makes the brand seem really high end.

Parlor Coffee’s elegant packaging design.

Kandace: Mmhm.

Ray: And, it’s perfect for an eight-ounce coffee bag.

Kandace: It looks like you were so excited that you just like ripped into it with your teeth.

Ray: I did it with my teeth I was so excited to try this. This was at Barista which was where I discovered it and this bag really jumped off the shelf because it reminded me of like an old William Morris print, or like, how Mast Brothers Chocolate presents themselves. I like the way that it’s wrapped in that print, and then on top of it is just this sort of black and white and red sort of, label. The only thing…

Kandace: Looks like they just stamped the…

Ray: They just stamp that on there and then on the back they just stamp the date and it’s perfect it has this sort of classical old world feeling and at the same time it feels very modern.

Kandace: So their website, in a very positive way, breaks a rule that I have in my mind which is that usually when I go to a coffee website, I’m not really excited to see bag after bag after bag on the shop page. But with THIS one, it looks great! These are like, the wallpaper, and then you’re almost just seeing the label as the label and it looks beautiful! It…

Ray: Yeah. White background yeah…

Kandace: Like this could be, an amazing wallpaper also, and so, it does and it brings in that same vibe and it’s one of the few times that I’ve seen that just work beautifully.

Ray: What I’ll also say about the website is that it pulls off simplicity really well. It’s very consistent, just start black and white. Then when you get to their blog it has a fixed width font it almost looks type-written like a report, and there’s just really nice photos. They do a great job with their photography both as well.

Kandace: And they have the “Now Roasting”…

Ray: Yeah the home page, they basically point you toward the thing you might wanna try on your first visit.

Kandace: Oh! This is what they’re now roasting today!

Ray: The Kenya, Ibutiti…

Kandace: Their About page…the copy? It’s really compelling, but I like the fact that they talk about the coffee being complex. And they talk about having a sort of scientific approach. And, in some ways this illustration makes me think a little bit of old illustration in like medical scientific journals. Just a tad! Not in the creepy way but in the great design way. They talk about their approach to coffee being scientific and coffee is complex and making beautiful coffee takes a focused approach. And I think that they pull that off in the way that the coffee tastes, but also, there’s that similarity in the site and then in their packaging and it’s all really cohesive to me.

Ray: Yeah. Mmhm.

Kandace: Yeah. And that’s really nice to see. So they have a roastery and then…Ray: It’s a pop-up shop.

Kandace: It sounds as though, they started as a pop-up in the barbershop.

Ray: I think so, yeah…

Kandace: And maybe, grew from there…

Ray: They must’ve been roasting somewhere but…

Kandace: And they talk about also being a group of coffee people, and artists and kind of coming together to build this roastery and you can see that. You can see that there’s an artistic touch, you can see that there’s a focus on coffee and so everything I’ve read, you see consistent in the packaging of the coffee which is…